"Perceptions" by Angela Verdenius

Perceptions by Angela Verdenius
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A cute little "ugly duckling" type short story about a plus size (?) woman and her "Hunk-o-Spunk" neighbor. I question the plus size designation here, because I can't help but think from the description given of her that Tess exaggerates how "fat" she is by comparing herself to the near-anorexic exercise over-achievers like the skinny little "Miss Stride-it-Out" that does her power walking past Tess's house quite frequently. Perhaps I'm misreading it, however, and the author intended her to be larger than it sounds.

As the title indicates, this story is largely about the assumptions people make about themselves and others simply based on looks. A handsome man couldn't possibly be interested in a not-skinny woman according to the infamous "they", and Tess isn't immune to falling into that stereotypical-thinking trap. There's not much heat here aside from a few serious lip-locks, but I think the story is more realistic for that. Normal people rarely jump each others' bones at the drop of a hat just cause circumstances threw them together (literally in this case). It's easy to see this story playing out in real life (including the escape artist cat), something which can't always be said of romance stories, and that adds to it's charm.

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